Bembridge State School, No. 4557

This is a history of the Bembridge State School, No 4557. The information, unless otherwise footnoted, comes from the two Bembridge School Building files at the Public Records Office of Victoria - VPRS 795/P0000, 4557 (1936-1956 and 1960-1961) and two files of images - VPRS 10516/P0003, Bembridge State School and VPRS 14514/P0001, Bembridge Primary School. This is a companion piece to a post I have written about the general history of Bembridge, which you can read here.

On September 15, 1936 J. McAllister of Bungower Road, Somerville wrote to the Minister of Education -
Sir,
We the undersigned parents, through our representative (Mr J. E. Kirton, M.L.A.) desire to place before you a request for a school to be built in the district wherein we reside. Many of the children named in the attached list have to walk or be conveyed over 4 miles to the Somerville School. None of the children reside within 3 miles of that school.

We are prepared to provide a block of land in a suitable position for a school. We therefore pray that favourable consideration be given to this request.
Yours respectfully.
J. McAllister.

The letter from Mr McAllister, September 1936

Public Records Office of Victoria - VPRS 795/P0000, 4557

These are the names and ages from the list provided by Mr McAllister. The information in the square brackets after the names comes from information I found on the Electoral Rolls on Ancestry.com.
Jean Coghlan, age 7
Lawrence Coghlan, age 6
James Coghlan, age 6
Dulcie Coghlan, age 3½

Five miles from nearest school. J. Coghlan. [James Coghlan, Somerville. Farmer. Wife: Marguerite Madeline Elizabeth Coghlan]

Joan E. McAllister, age 10 Nov 2nd 1935
Keith W. McAllister,  age 8 May 17th, 1936

4 miles nearest school. J. McAllister. [John James Duncan McAllister, Somerville. Labourer]

Gwendoline M. Roach, age 11 Oct 1935

Margaret A. Roach, age 9, Aug 1936

Lyall L. Roach, age 7, March 1936

Elizabeth M. Roach, age 2, Feb 1936

4 miles nearest school. Lyall L. Roach. [Lyall Linwood Roach,  Somerville. Farmer]

Donald R. Dixon, age 7, July 1936
Kathleen J. Dixon, age 5, August 1936

Shirley D. Dixon, born 18 June 1936.

4 miles nearest school. R.J. Dixon. [Reginald John Dixon, Almond  Grove, Somerville. Farmer]

James A. Bradley, age 7, 24 Jan 1936

Laurence Bradley, age 9, 23 Jan 1936

4 miles nearest school. Harriet May Bradley. [Harriett May Bradley, Bungower Road, Somerville. Home Duties]

Joyce Eicke, age 14, Aug 1936

Wilma Eicke, age 6, Nov 1936

3½ nearest school. E. Eicke. 

Hazel Christy, age 8 March 1936

Tasman Henry Christy, age 6, Sep 1936

2½ nearest school. H. Christy. [Henry Christy, Somerville. Labourer]

Verna Unthank, age 10, Feb 7 1936

Marshall Unthank, age 4, July 19, 1936

3½ nearest school. Thos Unthank. [Thomas Unthank.,Somerville. Orchardist]

Edward Victor, 22 months, Oct 1935

3½ miles. W.J. Victor. [William James Victor, Tyabb. Orchardist]

Graeme Triggs, age 3½, Jan 19 1936

3 miles. W. Triggs. [William Henry Triggs, Tyabb. Orchardist]

Leonie Rye,  age 9 years. May 25 1936

3½ miles. C. Rye. [Ernest Charles George Rye, Cranbourne Road, Tyabb. Orchardist]

Lilian E. Barber, 10 years Jan 16, 1936

George W. Barber,  8 years, Oct 4, 1936

Georgina Barber, 6 years Aug 22, 1936

Isabel Ann Cowell, 2 years Apr 2, 1936.

Nearest school 5 miles.  Lilian Cowell.

Application for a School at Bembridge, September 1936

Public Records Office of Victoria - VPRS 795/P0000, 4557

A few weeks later on September 29, 1936, the official application (reproduced above) for the establishment of a State School was completed by John McAllister. It lists the students who would attend the school, if established. All the children listed above are on this official application, as well as the following four children - 

F. N. Gregory 8/5/32. Distance from nearest school 2¾ miles.

Amy Harding 2/9/1932

Lesley Harding 14/6/1936

Distance from nearest school 2½ miles.

Vera Spizzo 2/6/35. Distance from nearest school 3 miles.

On October 20, 1936 Mr K.K. Leinonen of Tooradin Road, Somerville offered a 1½ acres site "as a free gift for the purpose of erecting a state school building" - part of allotments 32 and 33, on the triangle of land formed by Tooradin -Tyabb Road and Whitneys Road. The donor was Kalle Kustas Leinonen, a carpenter, born in Finland and who had arrived in Melbourne in 1914;  he was naturalised in 1921. (1)

Mr Lienonen's donation, November 1936

Public Records Office of Victoria - VPRS 795/P0000, 4557

Also around this time a list of potential teacher accommodation was supplied - Mrs Sullivan, 20 yards away; Mr Perrotte ¼ mile away;  and  Mr Unthank 1½ miles.  As well, it was suggested that the school be named Bembridge or East Somerville.

Potential accommodation for a teacher, undated but c. October 1936

Public Records Office of Victoria - VPRS 795/P0000, 4557

On November 14, 1936, Mr Rowe, the District Inspector recommended the School be established. This good news was reported in December 1936, in the Frankston and Somerville Standard -
The efforts to have a school established in Bungower road, SomerviIle, by parents whose children have to travel a great distance to attend the Somerville State School have been brought to a successful issue by Mr. A. J. Kirton, M.L.A., who has received the following letter from the Education Department:
With reference to your representations on behalf of Mr. J. McAllister, Bungower road, Somerville, and to previous correspondence, I have to inform you, that the Department has decided to establish a school at Bembridge near Somerville. Steps are being taken to obtain the site recommended by the District Inspector and the Public Works Department has been asked, to furnish an estimate of the cost of erecting a school building on the land. When this information is supplied the matter will have further attention. (2)

Another letter from McAllister regarding the School, March 1937

Public Records Office of Victoria - VPRS 795/P0000, 4557

However by March 15, 1937, as we can see by the letter above, there was still no school in Bembridge and in the June the Bembridge Progress Association  (3) took matters into their own hands and found some suitable rooms on a property owned by the Roach family. The rooms were described as 19 ft long by 14 ft 6 inches wide and 11 feet high; 12 feet by 9 feet and the third room 9 ft by 7ft. Also available was a 2000 gallon corrugated iron water tank; a toilet and a verandah over the back door.

Letter from Mr Rolfe, on behalf of the Progress Association, regarding a temporary school, June 1937

Public Records Office of Victoria - VPRS 795/P0000, 4557

This offer was approved by the Education Department and on July 6, 1937 -  Charles Wingfield Roach, Lyall Lynwood Roach and Charles Wingfield Roach, jnr. accepted the Department's offer but they reserved the right to use the rooms for meetings, social evenings etc as at present which will not interfere with the school work, but will help the district. The Education Department would provide the furniture of the school as well as another toilet (or out-office as they were called). 

Information regarding the lease of the temporary school, July 1937

Public Records Office of Victoria - VPRS 795/P0000, 4557

Location of the temporary school site, the permanent school site and the Hall. 

Read more about the hall and the mail run, here. 

Click on image to enlarge. Image: The Way We Were by Leila Shaw (4)

All seemed promising, but months later a teacher still had not been appointed and on September 14, 1937, Mr Roach, on behalf of the Bembridge Progress Association wrote the following letter to the Education Department, outlining the lack of progress.

Dear Sir,
We wish to bring before your notice the long delay that had occurred in opening the temporary school at Bembridge. Our Assn at its last meeting reviewed the position and found it most unsatisfactory, as follows:-
15 May - Rooms offered as temporary school
2 June - As requested sent measurements of rooms etc
6 July - Accepted rent offer by Dept. £12 p.a
12 July - Lease signed by left undated
23 July - Extra out office supplied by Dept
28 July - Inspector of Public Works Dept called
2 Sept  - Desks, blackboards etc placed in rooms ready.

Four months have gone by and the members cannot understand the cause of the series of long delays that have occurred and ask that the matter be treated as urgent.

A letter outlining the lack of progress of the school, September 1937

Public Records Office of Victoria - VPRS 795/P0000, 4557

Vision and Realisation (5) the history of the Education Department, notes the school finally opened on October 1, 1937, however the teacher wasn't appointed until the November (6) so possibly the school was opened towards the end of 1937. 

Opening of the Bembridge School, 1937

Image: The Way We Were by Leila Shaw (4)

The teacher appointed was Clement Joseph Greenwood, born October 21, 1912. His first appointment was a  Junior Teacher in January 1929 at Eaglehawk North. He was only at Bembridge for a year and at the end of 1938 was appointed to Spring Road, Malvern State School; and after a number of other appointments in January 1942 was appointed to Rushworth. He resigned from the Education Department on February 2, 1943 to join the Royal Australian Air Force. (6)  In August 1944 he was promoted to the rank of  Flying Officer and in October he moved to No. 463 Squadron, and was with that unit when he was killed on the 22nd December 1944, during air operations in Lincolnshire. (7)

Flying Officer Greenwood, the first teacher at Bembridge State School

The Herald, December 30, 1944 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article246009264

The Bembridge community still hoped for a permanent school, however in December 1937, Mr Moore, a Department Inspector decided that the block donated by Mr Leoninen was unsuitable as it was low lying, so a new site was purchased by the parents, a quarter of a  mile from the Leoninen site. It was of  1½ acres on Tyabb Tooradin Road, and purchased from James Sullivan for £10. Mr  Leinonen's land was returned to him.

Receipt from James Sullivan for his block of land for the school, December 1937

Public Records Office of Victoria - VPRS 795/P0000, 4557

Location of School as marked on the Parish Plan

Public Records Office of Victoria - VPRS 795/P0000, 4557

In April 1938 tenders were advertised for the new school on the new site at Bembridge (8).

Tender advertisement for the new school, April 1938

Dandenong Journal, April 27, 1938  http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article201303675

By July, the Frankston and Somerville Standard could report that the school was in the course of erection. (9)  On August 2, 1939 Mr Greenwood asked the Education Department for permission to engage a truck to transfer school property and furniture from a leased building to the new building, approx a quarter mile distant. By August 26 the boys 'out office' was removed from the leased school to the new school, and Mr Greenwood complained to the Department that for the previous two week 12 girls and 11 boys had to share the one toilet, and it was most inconvenient.  The school community moved into the new building on September 6, 1938.

Photos of Bembridge State School, undated.  

Click on image to enlarge.

You can see four of the individual photos at the end of this post (before the footnotes).

Public Records Office of Victoria VPRS 10516/P0003, Bembridge State School  

Mary Clifford took over as the Head Teacher at Bembridge after Mr Greenwood left, I presume at the start of 1939.  Mary had been born April 15, 1914, and appears to have had a number of short term appointments before Bembridge. She resigned from the Education Department March 8, 1941 and I have no other information about her. (10)  During her time a shelter shed was erected at the cost of £19 10 shillings, of which the Education Department would pay £9/15, and the school community had to pay the rest, as well as engage the contractor. 

Bembridge School Committee - Robert Storey, James McAllister, Ralph Colwell, Thomas Unthank (President) and Mrs Alice Roach (Secretary). 

Image: The Way We Were by Leila Shaw (4)

In June 1939, the Frankston Standard reported on Empire Day activities at Bembridge  - Twenty-seven adults were present at the Bembridge State School on May 19, when Empire Day celebrations and a bazaar were held. The children sang Empire songs and formed a pageant. During the celebrations the school committee presented a new flag to the school. The bazaar, organised in conjunction with the Junior Red Cross, raised £3/1/2. The amount will be sent to the Children's Hospital. A memorable day closed with afternoon. (11)

Bembridge School, 1939

Image: The Way We Were by Leila Shaw (4)

Mary Clifford left at some unknown time and a Miss Conole appears in the 1939 photo, above, this is possibly Grace Eliza Conole. (12)  However, in July 1939, Miss  Edna  May Fitzgerald, was in charge.  Edna was born August 6, 1917, and in common with Mary Clifford had also held a number of temporary positions within the Department; she resigned from the Department on November 22, 1942, due to her marriage to James Lemmon. (13) One of Edna's first duties was to write to the Education Department about the water tank, as the overflow was too high and it leaked onto the porch and flooded it.

Interestingly enough, the 1939 photograph, above, shows 19 children at the School but three years later in February 1942 there were only five students attending the school. This sharp and fast decline in numbers confirms Education Department District Inspector Bacon's description of the area -  this is not  a very "stable" area.   In the February of 1942,  Head Teacher D. M. Tyzack (14) wrote a three page letter to District Inspector Bacon of  the Department with a list of the children, their dates of birth and distance from school -

Lyall Roach March 8, 1929 2¼ miles  
James Bradley January 24, 1929 3 miles
Marshall Unthank July 19, 1932
Betty Roach February 28, 1934 2¼ miles
Bonny Spizzo June 1935

The children were in Grades 8, 6, 4, 3 and one.

D. M. Tyzack's report to District Inspector Bacon, March 1942

Public Records Office of Victoria - VPRS 795/P0000, 4557

D. M. Tyzack's report to District Inspector Bacon, March 1942

Public Records Office of Victoria - VPRS 795/P0000, 4557

D. M. Tyzack's report to District Inspector Bacon, March 1942

Public Records Office of Victoria - VPRS 795/P0000, 4557

In response to the Tyzack report, on February 11, 1942 District Inspector Bacon wrote in his report that due to the small number of pupils and the fact that no accommodation for the teacher could be found within four miles of the school the teacher has been withdrawn owing to boarding difficulties and has been placed elsewhere. Recommendation that the school be formally closed.

On July 14, 1943 Mr C. Roach wrote to the Department asking for the school to be re-opened on September 1 as they had eight eligible children who could attend - Mrs Felmington - 3, Mrs Peterson - 2, Mrs Roach, Mrs Spizzo and Mrs Unthank - one child each. There were also other children in the area who were underage, but could attend in a few years - Mrs De Bernardi - 2, Mrs King 3, Mrs Walker and Mrs Bradley who had three children who boarded with her. All the parents, wrote Mr Roach, are most anxious that the school reopen  at once, because of  the eight children ready, only three are attending school. 

A week later, Mr Roach, filled out an official form listing all the children who could attend the school, and their date of birth and distance from school.

Marshall Thomas Unthank 19/7/1932  1½ miles.

Elizabeth Mary Roach 28/2/1934 ¼ mile

Bonnie Vera Spizzo 1935 1 mile

James Patrick Walker  9/10/1930 2 miles

Raymond Michael Walker 26/7/1932 2 miles

Rosemary Thornell  22/8/1937 2 miles

Elizabeth Mary Petersen  15/5/1936 2 miles

Robert Nelson Petersen  1/9/1938 2 miles

James Edward Felmingham  26/8/1934 1 mile

David Ronald Felmingham  21/6/1936 1 mile

Alice Marie Felmingham 6/8/1938 1 mile

There were also four children who could attend school in the future

Ivan Albert Thornell 16/7/1939 2 miles

John Bremner De Bernardi 19/1/1939 1½ miles

Georgina Barker  22/8/1931 1¼ miles

Isabel Cowell  2/4/1934 1¼ miles

There was a question on the form regarding whether board was available for a female head teacher and the answer was Yes, - Mrs Skerry, half a mile from the school.

Mr Roach's application to have the school re-opened, July 1943

Public Records Office of Victoria - VPRS 795/P0000, 4557

On September 24, 1943, Mr Roach wrote to Mr Kirton, his local M.L.A on importance of school to the district.
Dear Sir,
Last July we made application for the reopening of the Bembridge State School No 4557. Time is running on and the school is still closed and the parents are very disappointed. Some say that if the school does not reopen they will have to leave the district and others are quite sure that with the school reopened more people will come to our district. It's an old saying, no school, no progress or prospects for the family man. Bembridge is an isolated district not served by rail or motor bus service, and with petrol and other restrictions some of the residents are without transport and are unable to take their children to other schools which are too far away, and walking is out of the question. We appeal to you, sir, to think of the children's future and what education, or lack of it will mean to them in later life, and to help us to have the school reopened at the earliest possible date.
Yours truly
C.W. Roach.

Mr Roach's letter stressing the importance of the need for a school in Bembridge, September 1943

Public Records Office of Victoria - VPRS 795/P0000, 4557

The Bembridge community was successful and on September 27, Mr Bacon D.I recommended that the school reopen and that he understands that a married woman now employed temporarily by the Department, lives within a reasonable distance...she could manage this school, if available. 

On September 29, 1943 it was announced that "a teacher will be appointed as soon as practicable" The school did reopen, but I don't have the exact date. The School file at PROV provides some statistics of the enrolments over the next four years - 
October 1944 - Average attendance 10, net Enrolment 13
February 1945 - Average attendance 9, net enrolment 14
February 1946 - Average attendance 5, net enrolment 9 - 4 boys, five girls.

April 1947 - Enrolment was 9 -  4 girls, 5 boys.

Undated photograph of Bembridge State School pupils

Public Records Office of Victoria VPRS 14514/P0001, Bembridge Primary School

By March 1946, the school committee wrote to the Education Department about the need for the school to be repainted; they had asked requested this also in September 1944 and mentioned that the school has a neglected appearance externally. A year later  (1947) they complained again about a continual stream of water coming through the ceiling  and flooding the porch. In December 1948 the Department could report that General repairs and external painting had been completed.

Some of the teachers during this time were Zoe Barbara McRobert, she was there April 1950; and D. MacKenzie, who was there in April 1951 (15). It appears that the teachers did not stay for long at Bembridge. In August 1952, Stanley John Spencer transferred  to the Bembridge school (16)  and less than a year later in June 1953,  Stanley was transferred to Frankston East and the Education Department ruled that owing to the small enrolment of seven pupils  it will not be possible to appoint  a successor  at once. This effectively closed the  Bembridge School.  

Bembridge School is unstaffed, June 1953

Public Records Office of Victoria - VPRS 795/P0000, 4557

As a matter of interest, in Vision and Realisation it states that in 1953 the departure of a family of seven so depleted the dwindling attendance that the school closed.  (17)  I don't believe this is correct, that a family of seven attended the school at this time. In March 1955 District Inspector Walker wrote a report about the Bembridge School and stated that there seems to be no likelihood of the building be required for school purposes, in its present position. He also wrote that two of the last students had transferred to Pearcedale, two to Somerville and three had left the area. If they had all come from the same family, as noted in Vision & Realisation, then you would expect that they would all would have moved on to the same school.

Bembridge School no longer required, March 1955

Public Records Office of Victoria - VPRS 795/P0000, 4557

District Inspector Walker's report also recommended that the buildings - the school room, shelter shed and lavatories -  be shifted to Baxter, No. 3023 as their enrolment was increasing.  This was done by March 1956; in July 1961, the Bembridge School site reservation was officially revoked and the school site was sold by the  Education Department. 

Bembridge School site officially revoked.

Public Records Office of Victoria - VPRS 795/P0000, 4557

So this was the end of the Bembridge State School and even though it was short-lived, we need to recognise the years of  hard work the local community put into establishing and maintaining the school for the education of their children.

Bembridge State School, undated. 

Public Records Office of Victoria VPRS 10516/P0003, Bembridge State School  

Bembridge State School, undated. 

Public Records Office of Victoria VPRS 10516/P0003, Bembridge State School  

Bembridge State School, undated. 

Public Records Office of Victoria VPRS 10516/P0003, Bembridge State School  

Bembridge State School, undated. 

Public Records Office of Victoria VPRS 10516/P0003, Bembridge State School  

This post on the history of Bembridge State School is a companion piece to a post I have written about the general history of Bembridge, which you can read here.

Trove list - I have created a list of articles from Trove, on Bembridge. Access it here. 

Footnotes

(1) Kalle Kustas Leinonen - Naturalisation record - National Archives of Australia   https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=39954

(2) Frankston and Somerville Standard, December 4, 1936, see here.

(3) Bembridge Progress Association, I have written about this group here.

(4) Shaw, Lelia The way we were: adventures, feats and experiences of pioneering families of the Mornington Peninsula (Somerville, Tyabb & District Heritage Society, 1998), p. 191.

(5) Vision and Realisation: a centenary history of State Education in Victoria, edited by L.J. Blake.  (Education Department of Victoria, 1973), v. 3, p. 475. This is the entry from Vision and Realisation for Bembridge (even though, I don't believe it is all correct)

Bembridge School opened on 1st of October 1937 in three rooms on Roach's farm, which the Department rented for £1 a month. During the stay of HT Mary Clifford the Department purchased 1½  acres of land from James Sullivan for a token payment of £10, and commenced building a new school. HT Greenwood established  the new school in October 1938. At the outbreak of war, this young man enlisted in the RAAF, and was killed in action over Germany. In 1953 the departure of a family of seven so depleted the dwindling attendance that the school closed. Two years later, the Bembridge school room was moved to Baxter No. 3023.

(6) I found out about Clement Greenwood's military service from Vision and Realisation (see footnote 5). Clement Joseph Greenwood - Public Records Office of Victoria Teacher Record Books, VPRS 13579/P0001 https://prov.vic.gov.au/archive/3DA1AA46-F7E4-11E9-AE98-2958C879CFD5?image=290

(7) Education Department, Victoria War Service Record, 1939-1945. (Education Department, 1959), p. 35.

(8) Dandenong Journal, April 27, 1938, see here.   

(9) Frankston and Somerville Standard, July 8, 1938, see here. 

(10) Mary Clifford - Public Records Office of Victoria, Teacher Record Books, VPRS 13579/P0001 https://prov.vic.gov.au/archive/3DAAD20D-F7E4-11E9-AE98-A7A45B914C07?image=23

(11) Frankston Standard, June 2, 1939, see here.

(12) Grace Conole - Public Records Office of Victoria, Teacher Record Books, VPRS 13579/P0001    https://prov.vic.gov.au/archive/3D91F3CA-F7E4-11E9-AE98-077F27427057?image=473

(13) Edna Fitzgerald - Public Records Office of Victoria, Teacher Record Books, VPRS 13579/P0001 https://prov.vic.gov.au/archive/3DAC319E-F7E4-11E9-AE98-D93307599BA2?image=235

(14) D. M. Tyzack - no other information, as does not have  a file at Public Records Office of Victoria Teacher Record Books

(15) Zoe McRobert and D. MacKenzie - do not have  a file at Public Records Office of Victoria, Teacher Record Books. 

(16) The Argus, August 5, 1952, see here.  

(17) Vision and Realisation: a centenary history of State Education in Victoria, op. cit., v. 3, p. 475.

Pakenham Consolidated School - a short history

I went to Pakenham Consolidated School on the Grenda's school bus, Bus 7, from Vervale from 1964 until 1970. My two sisters and my brother also went there. We spent at least two hours a day on the school bus, and we would have been the most easterly students who attended the School. This is a short history of Pakenham Consolidated School. 

In the 1940s and 1950s there was a movement to consolidate small rural schools into one larger, central school. This was partly a response to a shortage of teachers, due to many male teachers enlisting during the Second World War. The War also caused a shortage of materials and labour and many school buildings fell into disrepair. Consolidation was also seen to give advantages to students - the schools would have specialist Infant teachers and specialist subject teachers such as Art and Physical Education and would also allow the students a wider choice of friends from the different localities. The first consolidated school opened in Murrayville in January 1944; in 1946 Manangatang and Tongala; 1947 Woomelang and Patchewollock and in 1948 Timboon. In the 1950s newly built consolidated schools included Red Hill, Pakenham, Boisdale, Edenhope, Cobram, Kaniva, Kiewa Valley and Lockington and so by 1958, 32 such schools had opened. (1)

The schools would offer a general for children to the age of fifteen (which for some children was the end of Form 3 and for others it was Form 4) and Schools within 5 miles or 8 kilometres would be closed and beyond that, the Schools would have an option to close and join the new school. (2)  

Pakenham was selected for consolidation as early as 1946 and the new school would be built on the site of the Pakenham State School, No.1359, in Main Street. (3)

Pakenham selected as a site for a consolidated school

The Age, September 6, 1946 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article206373527

One of the issues faced by communities in the consolidation catchment zone was the retention of the existing school building for community use, rather than have them relocated to the new school site. This was especially important in areas which didn't have a hall. As reported in The Age in May 1947 -

Retention of old school buildings for, community centres, in areas where consolidated schools have been established, will not be permitted by the Education Department unless removal of the buildings to other sites for department use is uneconomic. This decision was given yesterday by the Minister for Education, (Mr. Field) when he was approached by two deputations from the Pakenham area with requests that the old school buildings in Pakenham South and on Army-road should not be removed, but should be sold to the district for use as public halls. Mr. Field said that if it could be shown that removal of the buildings to other sites for use in craft work and non-academic studies was not an economic proposition, the buildings might be handed over. On the information he had at present, he could not grant the request. (4)  Pakenham South did retain their hall in the community, however Army Road did not. (5) 

Cora Lynn, where my father, uncle and aunties attended school, was happy to voluntarily consolidate - as local Councillor Dan Kinsella reported - 

Cora Lynn -  the people were anxious to be brought into the Consolidated School scheme and at a public meeting had decided to request this. There had only been two dissentients. If the Department agreed there was no question that the Cora Lynn school would be moved. If the Department had a use for these buildings as schools, he did not think they should try and influence it politically. (6)  As a matter of interest my aunty who was born in 1941 was at Cora Lynn State School until May 1951 and  when it became part of Pakenham Consolidated School, she then did the rest of Grade 5 and Grade 6 there; then Form 1 and Form 2 at Drouin Central, because that is as far as that school went at the time, and finally went on to Form 3 at Warragul High in 1955. (7)

There were four different contracts for the construction of the Pakenham Consolidated School, with the one contractor K. G. Hooker and Co., of  Thistlethwaite street, South Melbourne, being the successful contractor each time. The total cost of the construction was around  £100,000.  I cannot find when the first tender was advertised, however local M.L. A., Matthew Bennett was reported as saying in May 1947 that the plans for the school had been completed and that tenders would be advertised in two weeks.  The first tender I can find advertised was for the removal, re-erection and repair of the existing building and the construction of the Junior Wing in November 1947. This was to relocate the existing building towards the back of the block (nearer to MacGregor Road), so the new buildings could be erected facing Main Street. (8)

First contract for Pakenham Consolidated School advertised

The Argus, November 7, 1947 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article22518382

In January 1947, the Pakenham Gazette could report that - 

A further move is being made towards the establishment of  the Consolidated School at Pakenham. Mr C.H. Pobjoy, correspondent of Pakenham State School Committee, has been asked to ascertain what temporary classroom accommodation could be arranged whilst the existing Pakenham school building was being moved to a new site further back on the block. He is submitting particulars of arrangements which it is hoped to make for the temporary accommodation of the children at the Mechanics' Hall or Scout Hall.  Mr Pobjoy said yesterday that he understood that the existing Pakenham school rooms were to be moved practically immediately to make way for the junior wing of the Consolidated School. (9). The Pakenham Gazette the next week said that the Scout Hall and the Recreation Reserve Pavilion  would be used as temporary school accommodation (10) so I am not actually sure which facilities were used as the temporary classrooms. 

News on the establishment of the school

Pakenham Gazette, January 23, 1948, p.9

The tender of  £12,742, for the Junior Wing was accepted in September 1948 and work was started on the new building at the beginning of October. (11)  The next tender of £15,999 for the construction of the wing housing the Cookery room, Cafeteria and staff room was accepted in January 1950 (12).  The final section was the Administrative block, and the tender of £14,977 was accepted in April 1950. (13) 

Last tender let for the School

The Sun News-Pictorial, April 29, 1950 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article279632268

One of the last contracts to be signed was for the bus service, which was awarded to Grenda's buses of Dandenong. (14)

Bus contract

Dandenong Journal, May 23, 1951 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article222352474

This is one of the Grenda's buses parked at Main Drain Road, Vervale (corner of Dessent Road) and it did the Cora Lynn run. The bus driver was Eddie Plumb, who rented the house, which was owned by my great-aunt, Lucy Rouse. The photo was taken, during a flood, after 1951 and before February 1956; when my newly married parents bought the house from Lucy to live in. There is another photo of  the Grenda's buses at the end of the Public Records Office of Victoria photos, below. 

In May 1951, the Pakenham Gazette could report that the school had opened and that  four buses conveyed 130 children from surrounding districts to Pakenham Consolidated School. At present there are 258 pupils attending the School, and it is hoped that in September several other schools will be consolidated, raising the attendance to over 400 children. (15)

However, the official opening by the Minister of Education, Mr A.E. Shepherd, did not take place until November 18, 1953, in front of a crowd of 500 people, including the Director of Education, Mr Ramsay. At this time there were 550 students at the school and a staff of 21. (16)  In 1966, when I was in Grade 2, the school population was 550 (plus 94 post-primary students) and there was a space shortage because my classes that year were conducted down the street at the Anglican Church hall. In 1970 there were 600 students. (17) 

The first Head Master was Charles Hicks. The schools that formed the Consolidated School were 

Army Road No. 3847 (closed April 1947) 

Cora Lynn No. 3502 (closed May 1951)

Koo-Wee-Rup North (Five Mile) No. 3198 (closed November 1959)

Mount Burnett No. 4506 (closed October 1949)

Nar Nar Goon North No. 2914 (closed October 1951)

Nar Nar Goon South No. 4554 (closed May 1951)

Officedale No. 4242 (closed May 1951)

Pakenham South No. 3755 (closed September 1951)

Pakenham Upper No. 2155 (closed January 1952)

Rythdale No. 4231 (closed September 1951)

Toomuc Valley No. 3034 (closed September 1951)

Tynong No. 2854 (closed April 1951)

Tynong North No.4464 (closed December 1951)  (18)

In 1967 Pakenham High School was established at the Pakenham Consolidated School site and it moved to its existing location in 1970. (19)  Pakenham Consolidated School moved from Main Street to Rundell Way in 1997 and the Main Street site was sold. Some of the old school buildings that had come from the closed schools were shifted to Beaconhills College in Pakenham.

Before we look at some photographs of Pakenham Consolidated School, here is an overview of the history of the Pakenham State School, No. 1359. The School had opened on a 2-acre site adjoining the Toomuc Creek in January 1875.  The successful tenderers for the school building were the firm of Lane, Orviss and Fanning and the contract price was £252/19/0; this was gazetted in the Victoria Government Gazette, October 9, 1874. The School operated half-time with the school named Pakenham South, No. 2139 (later called Cardinia) in Bould Road, Cardinia until April 1879. (20)

Lane, Orviss and Fanning won the contract  to erect the original Pakenham State School, on the Toomuc Creek.

Victoria Government Gazette, October 9, 1874, p. 1823 https://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/images/1874/V/general/64.pdf

The original Pakenham State School which opened in 1875 on the Toomuc Creek.

Public Records Office of Victoria VPRS 14517/P0001/28, L579 

In 1891, the school moved to the Main Street Pakenham site into a new building, the builder for which was A. Goad; the tender price was  £170 and it was accepted in February 1890 (21).  An extension was added in 1908, which could accommodate 40 children and  which had been built with all the latest improvements. (22)

The tender for the Pakenham State School in Main Street

The Argus, February 28, 1890 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8591776 

The original building on the Toomuc Creek was moved to Lardner in 1892 and was totally destroyed by fire in May 1912. (23)

The original Pakenham School building moves to Lardner.

Warragul Guardian, October 18, 1892 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article68729329

Photographs from the Public Records Office of Victoria

What follows are photographs from the Public Records Office of Victoria, taken in the 1950s and 1960s. You can access more of these photographs here https://prov.vic.gov.au/explore-collection/explore-topic/education/publication-branch-photographs-dept-education

The 1891 Pakenham State School building, which was relocated towards the back of the block in 1948 to became the Infants School (Preps to Grade 2)

Exterior of old school,  PROV VPRS 14517/P0001/10, F225

The 1891  Pakenham State School building during the construction phase.

Construction scenes and exterior shots  VPRS 14517/P0001/55, C148

 

Opening Ceremony, November 18, 1953. The Office was where the flagpole is, the building on the left is the Cafeteria.

Opening ceremony at Pakenham Consolidated, VPRS 14517/P0001/54, B996

Opening Ceremony, November 18, 1953

Opening ceremony at Pakenham Consolidated, PROV VPRS 14517/P0001/54, B997 

Opening Day, November 18, 1953. I wonder who this girl is?

Opening of Pakenham Consoldiated School 1953 by the Honorable A.E. Shepherd, M.L.A., Minister of Education, PROV VPRS 14517/P0001/54, C86

The muddy yard before asphalting and lawns

Construction views, PROV VPRS 14517/P0001/55, C176

View towards the original Pakenham School, love the little girl looking through the window of a class room in the junior wing. 

Construction views, PROV VPRS 14517/P0001/55, C173

The classroom wing, the junior wing, on the west side, against Dame Patty Avenue; this is the front of the buildings shown in the photograph, above

Front exterior, Pakenham Consolidated, PROV VPRS 14517/P0001/19, H740

 These are all the new buildings. On the far left are the senior classrooms, the next wing was the Art room and Library, then the Cafeteria wing and the Offices.

Exterior of playground, Pakenham Consolidated, PROV VPRS 14517/P0001/19, H739

Playground

Exterior of playground, Pakenham Consolidated, PROV VPRS 14517/P0001/19, H738

The houses for the teacher. The building on the right is the corner of the Cafeteria. 

Teachers' residences, PROV VPRS 14517/P0001/54, B975

The existing Pakenham State School building was used as the Infant School (Preps to Grade 2) and new buildings to house the rest of the school population were constructed at a cost of £100,000. As well, some of the closed school buildings were transported onto the site, and some are shown below.

Nar Nar Goon North No. 2914.

Construction scenes and exterior shots,  PROV VPRS 14517/P0001/55, C146

Other school buildings, the little one in the middle is Nar Nar Goon South, No. 4554.

View of old building,  PROV  VPRS 14517/P0001/55, C259

Some of the old schools, the one on the left is Toomuc Valley School, No. 3034.

Old classrooms, PROV VPRS 14517/P0001/54, B986

Children wait for buses, this was a bit before my time, but how well I remember waiting for School buses. Many of the children are wearing gumboots, you can see how muddy the yard is.

PROV VPRS 14517/P0001/54, C85

Footnotes

(1) Vision and Realisation: a centenary history of State Education in Victoria, edited by L.J. Blake (Education Department of Victoria, 1973), v. 1, pp. 403-408. Some of the information in this paragraph comes from the paper written by Ron Smith, in 1974, Consolidation, with particular reference to Pakenham Consolidated School. 

(2) Country Children to Get Better Education in the Weekly Times, March 6, 1946 see here - a good overview; Vision and Realisation, v. 1, op. cit., p. 407. I was actually a bit unsure whether the Consolidated school went to Form 3 or Form, but the photo below shows a Form 4 student.

Form Captains in 1964, the year I started at Pakenham Consolidated School, pictured are some from From 1 to Form 4.

Pakenham Gazette, June 26, 1964, p. 8

(3) The Age, September 6, 1946, see here.  

(4) The Age, May 15, 1947, see here. 

(5) Bunyip & Garfield Express, May 16, 1947, see here;  Dandenong Journal, June 28, 1950, see here;  Dandenong Journal, February 26, 1947, see here. 

(6) Dandenong Journal, June 28, 1950, see here.

(7) More about local High Schools here https://kooweerupswamphistory.blogspot.com/2019/04/local-high-schools.html

(8) Dandenong Journal, May 7, 1947, see here; The Argus, November 7, 1947, see here.

(9) Pakenham Gazette, January 23, 1948, p.9 

(10) Pakenham Gazette, January 30, 1948, p.1

(11) Dandenong Journal, September 15, 1948, see here. 

(12) Dandenong Journal, January 11, 1950, see here.    

(13) The Sun News-Pictorial, April 29, 1950, see here. 

(14) Dandenong Journal, May 23, 1951, see here. 

(15) Pakenham Gazette, June 8, 1951, p. 1.

(16) Pakenham Gazette, November 13, 1953. p. 1 and Pakenham Gazette, November 20, 1953. p.1. 

(17) Vision and Realisation: a centenary history of State Education in Victoria, edited by L.J. Blake (Education Department of Victoria, 1973), v. 3, p. 1191.

(18) Vision and Realisation: a centenary history of State Education in Victoria, edited by L.J. Blake (Education Department of Victoria, 1973), v. 3.

(19) Vision and Realisation, v. 3, op. cit., p. 1352.

(20) Vision and Realisation, v. 3, op. cit., pp. 1190-1191; Victoria Government Gazette, October 9, 1874, p. 1823 https://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/images/1874/V/general/64.pdf             

(21) The Argus, February 28, 1890, see here;  one report has his name as A. Good, but I believe Goad is correct.

 (22) The Argus, September 25, 1908, see here

 (23) Warragul Guardian, October 18, 1892, see here; Vision and Realisation, v. 3, op. cit., pp. 1197-1198. The Vision & Realisation entry on Lardner doesn't mention that the school was moved from Pakenham, they note that Lardner No. 1711, acquired a new school building in 1886. It is possible that the Warragul Gazette report is incorrect and I can find no information about a tender. Around the same time the school known as Pakenham East was relocated to Harkaway. This was School No. 1279, it opened in 1874 and was then called Nar Nar Goon, renamed Pakenham East in 1889 and closed August 1891, with the building being moved to Harkaway, No 1697.

The Argus, September 30, 1892 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8463926

  

This post is a very much enlarged version of a post I wrote and researched on my work blog, Casey Cardinia Links to our Past.